West Africa's Women of God examines the history of direct revelation from Emitai, the Supreme Being, which has been central to the Diola religion from before European colonization to the present day. Robert M. Baum charts the evolution of this movement from its origins as an exclusively male tradition to one that is largely female. He traces the response of Diola to the distinct challenges presented by conquest, colonial rule, and the post-colonial era. Looking specifically at the work of the most famous Diola woman prophet, Alinesitoue, Baum addresses the history of prophecy in West Africa and its impact on colonialism, the development of local religious traditions, and the role of women in religious communities.

The emails in this volume chronicle and document some of the story presented in the memoir. There are perhaps one hundred or so more, which may be added in later editions or a separate volume. The earlier emails demonstrate a far weaker, far less studied experienced relationship to the topics discussed in the book. Those in this volume are a good example of the later emails.

There is also a second project by the author with a similar set of email chronicles. This is TaxTheRichDotName email series and reflects the author's involvement in recent political efforts to redress the current distribution of wealth in the country.

For more on either of the Email Chronicles and on both projects, the reader is referred to http: //www.blamingjaphyrider.com and http: //www.taxtherich.name.

The blog for Blaming Japhy Rider is at http: //www.philip.bralich.authorxpress.com

The need for self-inquiry in daily life. Everybody needs sleep for his survival.If a man does not have sleep adequately he wil go insane and his life will be in disorder.Similarly everybody needs meditation in waking state, otherwise his mind and life will be in disorder.This disorder is quite obvious both inside the mind and so outside in the preseny world where majority humanity have no idea or time to do meditation. Meditation is to go beyond thought and establish ourselves in the being.But we cannot go beyond thought the mechanics of the working of the "me" which is an isolating and destructive factor.At present thought is dominating and directing our way of life. Thought is a reaction of past memories and experiences and if it is face the challenge in the present which is always new, it encounters it partially which results in conflict. So thought as our master of life brings disaster and ego is nothing but thought. So thought subsides when activity of "me" subsides which is the result of understanding born out of awareness, watchfulness in a state of observation in which there is not a trace of condemnation or justification of what is being observed. In that passive alertness we listen to the noise of the "me" with relaxed attention beyond the noise of words without intervening screen of thoughts, conclusions, prejudices. . Mind is simply a combination of all the thoughts, of all the clouds. Mind has no independent nature of its own. When all the thoughts are gone and the sky is clean and clear, you will see that everything that you have paid so much attention to is nothing but emptiness. Your thoughts were all empty. They contained nothing, they were void. Whatever you thought they contained was your own energy. You have withdrawn your energy -- just the empty shell of the thought falls down. You have withdrawn your identity and immediately the thought is no longer alive. It was your identity that was giving it life force. And strangely enough, you thought that your thoughts were very strong and it was difficult to get rid of them You were making them strong, you were cultivating them. Just by forcing them, you were getting into a fix. The search for truth is individual and is not possible in religious congregations. All this is possible in self-inquiry in which we go beyond thought and establish in the being and we respond to the challenge in a holistic way and we attend to the present instead of getting lost in imagination of day dreaming and we relax totally in being in full awareness.

When using mantra meditation to enter the highest realms of enlightenment and spiritual realization, this book acts as a guide to speedy, obstacle-free progress. The focus is on the Hare Krishna mahamantra with an easy to understand and lively presentation of how to reach success in one's personal practice.

While there are numerous books providing instructions on how to meditate, few explore the lived experience of meditation like it is a phenomenological experiment. Home Grown Buddha is the outcome of the author's thirteen-year-long adventure in meditation. Like many adventures, the path of discovery required letting go of numerous big T truths and replacing them with an intentionally open mind. The author's insights, which are the result of the direct experience of non-doing, e.g., sitting purposely with an open mind, are not meant to be a set of directions, but rather, a signal to the reader to put aside the rule book and open to the uncooked feast of the commonplace. While the author intends no sectarian agenda, there is still grounding in the no-brand traditions of Buddhism, yoga, mysticism, and modern psychology without the obfuscation of Sanskrit or Pali terminology. For a novice meditator, Home Grown Buddha contains a treasure trove of line-by-line details of particular techniques actually used by the author in his experiments, as well as a few useful markers discovered in the mysterious silence of unknowing that is sitting meditation. These markers are not intended to be hard and fast, but more like gentle hints to trust the process. The author considers himself a humble student and only wishes to share his insights with the reader as a co-meditator and fellow seeker.

The Five Classics associated with Confucius formed the core curriculum in the education of Chinese literati throughout most of the imperial period. In this book Michael Nylan offers a sweeping assessment of these ancient texts and shows how their influence spread across East Asia. Nylan begins by tracing the formation of the Five Classics canon in the pre-Han and Han periods, 206 B.C.-A.D. 220, revising standard views on the topic. She assesses the impact on this canon of the invention of a rival corpus, the Four Books, in the twelfth century. She then analyzes each of the Five Classics, discussing when they were written, how they were transmitted and edited in later periods, and what political, historical, and ethical themes were associated with them through the ages. Finally she deliberates on the intertwined fates of Confucius and the Five Classics over the course of the twentieth century and shows how the contents of the Five Classics are relevant to much newer concerns.

This is an endeavor of a Western Christian Episcopalian] to find teachings of the Church in the East since 1054CE. Many of these are taken from the time spent during seminary and doctrinal classes.

The enduring wisdom of the Tao Te Ching can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.Reportedly written by a sage named Lao Tzu over 2,500 years ago, the Tao Te Ching is one of the most succinct - and yet among the most profound - spiritual texts ever written. Short enough to read in an afternoon, subtle enough to study for a lifetime, the Tao Te Ching distills into razor - sharp poetry centuries of spiritual inquiry into the Tao - the "Way" of the natural world around us that reveals the ultimate organizing principle of the universe.Derek Lin's insightful commentary, along with his new translation from the original Chinese - a translation that sets a whole new standard for accuracy - will inspire your spiritual journey and enrich your everyday life. It highlights the Tao Te Ching's insights on simplicity, balance, and learning from the paradoxical truths you can see all around you: finding strength through flexibility (because bamboo bends, it is tough to break); achieving goals by transcending obstacles (water simply flows around rocks on its way to the sea); believing that small changes bring powerful results (a sapling, in time, grows into a towering tree).Now you can experience the wisdom and power of Lao Tzu's words even if you have no previous knowledge of the Tao Te Ching. SkyLight Illuminations provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes helpful historical background, explains the Tao Te Ching's poetic imagery, and elucidates the ancient Taoist wisdom that will speak to your life today and energize your spiritual quest.

In these lectures Steiner deals with the experiences of the human soul during and after death. On the basis of precise clairvoyant observations, he describes the events experienced during the millennium of the soul's journey within the vast realms of soul and spirit between death and rebirth. Steiner describes the states of consciousness experienced by our deceased loved ones and how we-by considering their new consciousness-can communicate with them and even help them. Reading these descriptions, it becomes clear that excarnated souls need the spiritual support of those presently incarnated, and that those still on earth, in turn, derive enlightenment and support from their former earthly companions.

An unabridged edition (with photographs) to include: Wherein I Bow to the Reader - A Prelude to the Quest - A Magician Out of Egypt - I Meet A Messiah - The Anchorite of the Adyar River - The Yoga Which Conquers Death - The Sage Who Never Speaks - With The Spiritual Head of South India - The Hill of the Holy Beacon - Among The Magicians And Holy Men - The Wonder-Worker of Benares - Written in the Stars - The Garden of the Lord - At the Parsee Messiah's Headquarters - A Strange Encounter - In a Jungle Hermitage - Tablets of Forgotten Truth

Discover the spiritually incisive strategies for peacefully resolving conflictin this masterpiece of military strategy.Written 2,500 years ago by Chinese general Sun Tzu, The Art of War is a poetic and potent treatise on military strategy still in use in war colleges around the world. Yet its principles transcend warfare and have practical applications to all the conflicts and crises we face in our lives - in our workplaces, our families, even within ourselves.Thomas Huynh guides you through Sun Tzu's masterwork, highlighting principles that encourage a perceptive and spiritual approach to conflict, enabling you to:* Prevent conflicts before they arise* Peacefully and quickly resolve conflicts when they do arise* Act with courage, intelligence and benevolence in adversarial situations* Convert potential enemies into friends* Control your emotions before they control youNow you can experience the effectiveness of Sun Tzu's teachings even if you have no previous knowledge of The Art of War. Insightful yet unobtrusive facing - page commentary explains the subtleties of the text, allowing you to unlock the power of its teachings and help prevent and resolve the conflicts in your own life.

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th January 1863 and died on 4th July 1902. He was also known as Narendra Nath Datta. He was a firm advocate of Vendatta Philosophies and Yoga. He was a disciple of Guru Ramakrishna and founded Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. Karma-Yoga Karma in its Effect on Character Each is great in his own place The Secret of Work What is Duty? We help ourselves, not the world Non-attachment is complete self-abnegation Freedom The Ideal of Karma-Yoga

Fascinating stories of Himalayan Mystics and real life experiences of the author with one of them - Babaji of Nainital District in the Himalayas

About the Contributor(s): James M. Robinson is Professor of Religion Emeritus at Claremont Graduate University, where he was founder and director of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. As permanent secretary of UNESCO's International Committee for the Nag Hammadi Codices, he edited The Coptic Gnostic Library, reprinted in five volumes (2000); among his many other publications is Language, Hermeneutic, and History.

11 lectures, Hamburg May 16-28, 1910 (CW 120) Why do people en-counter such different events and circumstances in life? What is behind diseases, accidents, and natural disasters? Rudolf Steiner speaks of karma as a reality that, if we understand it, answers the questions that arise as we begin to look seriously for life's meaning and purpose. We create our own karma in every area of existence, laying the foundation in one incarnation for the next. The whole pattern is not contained in one but in many lives on earth. Steiner tells us that we can gain acceptance and a sense of purpose by recognizing that self-induced karma is always in the process of being resolved. About karma and animals; health and illness; the curability and incurability of diseases; accidents; volcanoes, earthquakes, and epidemics; the karma of higher beings; free will in the future of human evolution; and individual and shared karma. "By exploring the more hidden aspects of a whole range of life phenomena in the light of the evolution of our planet Rudolf Steiner raises our consciousness to the vital role we play in helping or hindering the powers which serve the world's evolvement" (from the foreword). This book is a translation from German of Die Offenbarung des Karma (Ga 120).